Another Heart Calls
by xmaraudergirlsx
Summary: Sirius fell in love. Sirius had his heart broken. And now he's trying to figure out how to have control over his life again. Meanwhile, Lindley is a miserable prat of a girl, trying to find her way through her last few years at Hogwarts. SB/OC LE/JP
1. 1 Sirius

A/N: Hey guys...yes, I started a new story...usually this happens when I need inspiration to continue an old story but the product is usually enjoyable. I think you will enjoy this one. Let me know and review!! :)

- Chapters will change from Sirius's POV to Lindley's (OC) POV.

Disclaimer: Nothing I post to this story belongs to me....just havign fun with J.K Rowling's characters!

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**Another Heart Calls**

**Chapter 1: Sirius**

Ugh.

I am so sick and tired of all these stupid girls batting their eyelashes at me. Can't they tell that I just want to be left alone?

"Lisa Markowski just asked me to ask you if you'd go to Hogsmeade with her," James said, plopping down beside me with a knowing smirk.

"And did you tell her to piss off?" I replied dully taking a sip of the delicious French Onion soup in front of me.

James chuckled. "Nah I said I'd give it a shot."

I sighed and dipped some bread in my soup.

"…Well?"

I turned my head to glare at him and he raised his hands defensively as he laughed.

"Brilliant. Now I can console her," he said rubbing his hands together and grabbing a few chicken legs.

I laughed gruffly. "Pathetic, James."

"What's he done now?" Remus asked as he joined us, reaching for some chicken of his own.

I rolled my eyes, flicking some hair off my face and returned to my soup. Peter who had been watching me as he scarfed down potatoes, jerked his head similarly, a stray lock of his wispy hair floating straight up. I choked on my soup with laughter and James pounded on my back, biting his lip to keep from grinning. We glanced at each other but didn't comment on the gesture.

"Anyway, I've decided to seduce Lisa Markowski," James announced, shifting the focus.

Remus raised an eyebrow. "Hate to break it to you mate, but she's sweet on Padfoot."

"Ah, I'm sure I'll find a way to…convince her," James said with a cocky grin.

"But what about Evans, Prongs?" Wormtail spoke up, his cheek bulging with potatoes.

James shrugged indifferently but flattened his hair as he replied, "Evans is more trouble than she's worth."

I knew he wasn't being completely honest because of the hair flattening. He's long since realized his hair looks better rumpled, so he doesn't do that unless he's nervous or lying. I decided not to give him away though and instead used a piece of bread to scoop up the remainder of my soup. When the dish was clean, I moved it methodically to the side and set up a plate with chicken, mashed potatoes and broccoli carefully arranging them so nothing was touching each other. I lazily lifted my wand and vanished the bowl of soup. It was an impressive gesture, though I couldn't be sure it had ended up back in the kitchens where I'd intended.

When I tuned back into my friends' conversation, taking a sip of pumpkin juice, I realized that Remus was still lecturing James on the treatment of women.

"I mean really, its quite clear you still fancy Lily – so why not give more attention to maturing so you can impress her, instead of hooking up with a new girl every week!"

Seeing James fidget with his napkin, tearing it into shreds as Remus plundered on, I spoke up.

"Oh give it a rest Moony, James is at perfect liberty to do what he wants with who he wants."

Remus stopped, shutting his mouth with a snap as he glared disapprovingly at me. I held his stare for a few moments and eventually he sighed and returned to his food.

Although he shot me an appreciative look, James looked uncomfortable for a moment before he said, "You know Remus, I reckon you're right. I should stop."

Remus looked up in surprise, "So you won't hook up with Lisa?"

James smirked "I didn't say I would stop, I just said I should…" He winked playfully and the rest of us laughed in amusement.

"You're hopeless," Remus said with a chuckle and a shake of his head.

Peter began to talk about his Muggle Studies homework so, losing interest, I turned to look away from the Gryffindor table, around the Great Hall. My eyes glazed over a few eyelash-batters and came to rest on Her. Samantha Morgan.

Feeling my blood boil slightly, I took another sip of my pumpkin juice as my eyes panned over to her jerk of a boyfriend Kevin Collins. He was stroking her long, corn-silk hair and she had a seductive smile on her face. She was exquisite.

And, I hated her.

"Padfoot, you're staring again," Wormtail whispered.

"I know," I said, still glaring.

"Sirius…" Remus began disapprovingly.

"Mate, come on – you've left your fork on the table," James interrupted. I turned sharply and picked it up. Muttering a spell to clean it off unnecessarily, I stabbed at my chicken and continued to eat. There was some silence for a long while until Moony cleared his throat.

"Honestly mate, it's been months!"

"Don't. Start," I grumbled and polished off the remaining items on my plate. The other guys had already started on pudding. I vanished my plate again and huffily grabbed a slice of apple pie. James nudged me with slight concern, but I just shrugged.

Stupid Samantha Morgan. She ruined my life.

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A/N: Enjoy it? Review it. 3


	2. 2 Lindley

A/N:Thanks for the nice response! I thought I would go ahead and post this quickly since you need this chapter to kind of understand the groove of what's to come. Let me know how it is. I have like 12 chaps for this already so suggestions will go towards the later chaps. Much love!

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**Chapter 2: Lindley**

You know what's the worst? No, I'm not about to go into some sob story about my pathetic life. I just need to complain about my stupid name for the 500th time. We had a substitute Defense teacher today since Professor Morrison was sick and I had to go through the ridiculous spiel about my name again.

"No Sir, it's not Lindsey."

"Yes Sir, you can call me something else – what would you prefer?"

I went by Linds for short normally, but I was already in a foul mood when I walked into my Defense class and I had no time for this old professor and his scandalized looks.

"Don't mind her Professor, she doesn't mind if you call her Lindsey," my friend Jessica Bates remarked hurriedly as she put a firm hand on my elbow and dragged me away to some seats in the middle of the room.

"I do mind though!" I hissed as I collapsed into my seat in a huff.

Lily Evans laughed from behind me. "I bet you hate that, happens every time right?"

I nodded and rolled my eyes miserably before turning to face the front. There was an unusual amount of Gryffindor girls in our year and we were quite decisively split into two groups. We held no animosity for each other, we just had different personalities. Lily was kind of the leader of her group but not in an overbearing way - she was probably the friendliest of the bunch. Marlene McKinnon, Dorcas Meadowes and Lily Evans were the popular girls – outgoing, admirable and funny. Not that Jess and I were losers or anything, just quieter and less in the spotlight than the rest of them. That suited us just fine since Jess was a bit of a bookworm and I was a miserable prat for the most part.

"Don't worry Linds, I've gotcha," Lily whispered to me as she and Marlene laughed conspiratorially.

I raised an eyebrow at Jess who shrugged and looked to the front where the Gryffindor boys were now entering. James Potter was the ringleader of this little bunch, he and Sirius Black laughing about something as they found their usual seats at the very back of the classroom. Peter Pettigrew and Remus Lupin seemed more sober as they entered but they too sat at the other desk right at the back.

"Alright, now, I'm just going to go through this list I've made to try to remember all of your names," Professor-new-guy announced.

There was no real commotion or interest as he did this, besides everyone having a good chuckle about him stumbling over my first name once again. No commotion that is, until he got to Lily.

"Lily Evans…"

She didn't answer and everyone looked rather puzzled. People turned to look at her as she stared into space and twirled her hair.

"Lily Evans!" The teacher tried again, looking at her. "MISS EVANS!"

Lily looked up in carefully executed mock surprise. "Oh I'm sorry were you calling my name Professor?"

"Yes Lily! 3 times!" he said in a huff.

"Ohhhh!!" she said with a knowing laugh. "Did you call me Lily Sir?"

He (and everyone else) looked completely confused.

"You see Sir…it actually LYly – like a 'eye' sound…"

Everyone began to chuckle especially James Potter who did so loudest. When I turned to look, he was positively beaming in Lily's direction probably because he openly had a huge crush on her. As always, my eyes drifted to the beautiful face of Sirius Black smirking with a lock of hair casually in his eyes. He blew it off his face and caught me looking. Not wanting to be obvious that I had been staring, I just nodded at him. He looked surprised but nodded back.

When I turned, Lily was being reprimanded by the professor as she struggled to keep a straight face. I was struggling too, my mood being lifted entirely by her little joke.

"AND YOU TOO – LindSey Taylor!" Professor-new-guy yelled as he spun around. "Detention tomorrow night!"

"NO! But Sir!" Lily tried to protest.

"NOT another word," he yelled storming to the front muttering about being a sub.

Lily smiled at me guiltily. "Sorry, didn't think he was such a hard ass."

I shrugged and grinned at her. "No, it's totally worth it – you were hilarious!"

It was already October of our Sixth Year and as much as I wanted this year to be more interesting, it just wasn't. It was the same as always. The reason for my foul mood was down to my First-Year sister. My father had sent me a Howler because apparently I wasn't paying enough attention to her during her first months at Hogwarts. Though I wasn't quite sure why he was surprised - I'm not exactly the most maternal of people.

After Defense, most of the Gryffindors headed to Transfiguration. Marlene, Dorcas, Mary and Peter weren't taking it so they went off to their free and I fell in to step with Lily as she talked to Lupin.

"Hey LindSey," he said with a knowing smile.

I rolled my eyes. "Lily you really saved my mood today, I swear I was thinking of just cutting my losses and going to bed."

Lily laughed and tossed her hair, "Anytime. Now, did you manage to get that new spell down for Transfiguration?"

I shook my head. "Nah, too much on my mind. I didn't really practice."

"Darn. No one I know has it yet!"

"We know it Evans," Potter put in, indicating to himself and Black.

"Like I said, no one I know," she replied rolling her eyes. "I'll see you guys there," she said nipping into the Ladies as we passed it. I wish she hadn't. Not that I'm on bad terms with the three boys I was left with, but I just didn't talk to them much. They knew Lily and her friends much better than Jess and I.

There was an awkward silence as we lined up outside the classroom waiting for McGonagall.

"So Taylor was that your Howler this morning?" Black asked in an uninterested voice. Now, he's probably the only person who could get away with this. Ask a question like they didn't even care to know the answer. I suppose it's because he's really, really, ridiculously good-looking.

"Yeah, just my dad having a hissy fit."

The same look of surprise that he'd had earlier in response to my random nod crept on to his face and he barked a laugh.

"Yeah, I know the feeling," he said with a shrug and a small smile.

"Me too. My mum sent me one last week for not writing in a week," Potter added with a roll of his eyes.

I looked away to cover my smile. How did I always suspect Potter was a mama's boy?

Meanwhile Sirius was laughing at his friend who looked offended.

"Oh shut up, you know she was yelling at you too! She's expecting a letter from you soon as well!"

Sirius went quiet then and Remus rubbed his temples, rolling his eyes as he looked at me.

I smiled again. They were nice lads, though sometimes a little obnoxious and loud for my taste.

We went in to the classroom to get settled just as McGonagall walked in with Lily, chatting to her. Lily put a slightly pained expression on her face for a moment and then she laughed with McGonagall before going to her seat. I'd never seen the Transfiguration teacher on better terms than anyone than Lily and I wondered how she managed it. Lily waggled her fingers at me and sat up front with a Ravenclaw girl I didn't really know, leaving me to my lonesome. Feeling kind of relieved that I didn't need to chat, I dumped my stuff all over the table for two and sat down. Just as I was pulling out random rubbish from my bag, I heard someone clear their throat.

"Mind if I sit here Lindley?" Black said, his eyebrow raised as he stared at my litter everywhere. I was caught off guard but nodded and started to hurriedly move things to my side of the table, The pile of loose candy wrappers and scrap pieces of parchment were moved precariously to the edge as he sat down.

"Do you need those?" he asked me, still staring at it.

"Uh no, its just rubbish, I'll throw it out later," I answered, glancing back at James and Remus who looked interested in their friend's seating choice.

Sirius waved his wand and my scraps vanished. "Don't mind do you?" he said indifferently before he laid his parchment down in front of him, shifting it a few times to make it perfectly perpendicular to the table edge and then put down his quill exactly next to it. It was such a bizarre action, I looked at my own things strewn carelessly around on my side. It made me want to laugh, so I snorted and burst into laughter. I wanted to stop, honestly. Sirius looked so disgusted at my display that I thought he was going to move when I heard a sharp voice call from the front, "Miss Taylor!"

I clapped a hand on my mouth and looked at McGonagall as innocently as possible. She glared for a moment before doling out instructions to the class and beginning to make rounds to check on people.

As I gathered myself, I pushed my bag unceremoniously on to the floor and made a messy pile of my notes and textbook. I put my quill down randomly and tried waving my wand at it, muttering the incantation. As I struggled, I became very aware of a set of eyes on me, so I turned expectantly.

"What's up?"

Sirius had a strange look on his face, like he wasn't sure what to make of me. "You're really weird," he commented.

"Me? Who's sitting there compulsively moving his possessions around so they line up with each other?" I retorted in annoyance.

He chuckled. "I never said I wasn't weird," he said gesturing to the quill sitting smack dab in front of him on the desk, the parchment no longer there.

"You see - it's lined up completely perfect. If we measured, it'd be within a few millimeters of the center."

"That's…um fascinating," I said rolling my eyes a little. It was strange behavior. I mean, who knew the boy who was often involved in stories involving motorcycles, Muggle Aurors and random pranks around school was such a control freak?

"You need to roll your wrist," he commented before returning to quite spectacularly transfigure his quill into a Snowy Owl.

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A/N: Review!


	3. 3 Sirius

A/N: Oooh I forgot how addictive reviews are! :) Thank you all for the great response, especially those who've seen me start stories and leave stories for months and weeks at a time. I am still going strong on this but hopefully some inspiration will come for Annoyingly Persistent. Ok enjoy it!

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**Chapter 3: Sirius**

The lads and I were sitting under our Beech tree during our afternoon free late in the week. I was poring over the Marauder's Map, trying to figure out where we could look for a new tunnel while James played with that stupid Snitch of his. Moony was engrossed in a book as always and Wormtail was flat on his back, snoring as he napped.

"Merlin, someone turn him over or something," I muttered in annoyance.

Prongs laughed, prodding Peter's nose with the fluttering snitch. Peter let out an enormous sneeze and sat up with a start. We all laughed hysterically as he rubbed his eyes in sleepy irritation.

"You lot suck!" he grumbled, pulling one of his comics from his bag.

"So…Padfoot!" Remus said clapping his book shut. "Aren't you excited for Transfiguration tomorrow?"

I raised my eyebrow and looked at James who was laughing silently.

"Is there something I don't know about?" I asked.

"No no, just talking about your new partner!" Remus said with an uncharacteristic smirk.

I laughed shortly, clearing the map and putting it in my pocket. "Who Taylor? She's a hot mess."

Everyone looked momentarily shocked.

"Not like that 'hot' you idiots," I explained, shocked at their conclusions.

"She's cute though…when she brushes her hair," James said thoughtfully.

"I hadn't noticed," I replied with a shrug, leaning against the tree trunk. And again we were on this girl subject. Everyone was always so convinced I would move on if I just started seeing someone else. Well I didn't want to see anyone else.

I stretched letting out a great big yawn, looking at the lake sleepily. Dorcas Meadowes had gathered a pile of the fallen leaves and was dancing around it. Her pale blonde hair was tangled in dreadlocks and she was always talking about 'spirituality' or some other codswallop. Sam and I used to tease...

I swallowed. It still hurt to remember.

"I really do think she's kind of cute in a ridiculous, disheveled way," James was saying.

Were they still talking about Lindley Taylor? Really it seemed like all my buddies thought about were girls these days.

"What's she like Sirius? She doesn't talk much," Remus asked me. Glad for the distraction, I thought back to Transfiguration and smiled.

"I dunno. She's nice but a total headcase," I replied.

"Hmm…" James looked thoughtful.

I laughed. "Weren't you supposed to be seducing Lisa this week?"

"I am. Still going through Phase 2: the consoling, 'Sirius is a git' phase – but she's coming along," he said, also chuckling.

"Ha," I said, rolling my eyes.

"Sirius, why don't you go out with Lindley?" Peter asked.

I sighed and shook my head.

"I don't date…remember?" I said to Peter, glancing at my watch. It was almost time for Charms. I swallowed again, painfully.

"Hasn't it gotten any easier mate?" Remus asked gently.

"Yeah," I lied. "It's fine – I'm just not interested."

"Oh come on, you need a distraction!" James said punching my shoulder playfully.

"What do you think I keep you guys around for?" I replied with a wink. They grinned back but exchanged looks. I reckon they knew I was lying.

It's not as if I'm a miserable, pathetic person after her. It's not that at all. It's just difficult to look at her everyday carrying on as if nothing had happened between us. I committed two years of my life to Samantha Morgan and she ruined me.

Though I'd never much been interested in girls and dating – by Fourth Year when everyone's hormones were in full swing – I started seeing Sam differently. We'd been acquaintances for the first three years of school and I'd always known she was beautiful. Her silky hair was the color of corn and her eyes sparkled a bright, delicious blue. She had a killer smile and I was happy to see that eventually she grew to have a killer body too.

Girls had always had crushes on me, even as early as First Year. I knew that much, though I didn't much care. When I got to Hogwarts, it was the first time I'd had real friends and I'd consumed myself with them and trying to widen the estrangement I already had with my family when I was sorted into Gryffindor.

Not that I hadn't noticed pretty girls. I had the boys pointing them out constantly and Sam was among the prettiest. Our friendship had begun during the last months of Third Year when Flitwick had us paired up for a final Charms project and research paper. It was then that I realized Sam was not only gorgeous, but, funny and vivacious too. Sometimes she played the helpless female and it did wonders for my already inflated ego. She wasn't terribly intelligent honestly, but that gave me an excuse to help her out.

Back then; I'd hear girls whispering about me – giggling annoyingly when I passed or blushing crimson when I talked to them. But none of them particularly had the confidence to walk over and strike up a conversation. Except Sam. We'd laugh together as we walked to class and she'd sit with me and the lads at dinner occasionally. Everyone knew what was happening before it did. We left for the summer, still friends but with no plans on communicating until the next year. But then she started with the letters. Beautifully written letters which were flattering and funny and interesting and that's when I fell for her. I asked her out in the first week of Fourth Year and we'd stayed together until the middle of this summer.

And then we broke up.

And I can't even think about it right now.

"We ought to get a move on," Remus said standing and stretching.

The others nodded and got up too but I couldn't stand. Suddenly I wanted nothing less than to go to Charms and have to see her. As I mulled this over, trying to find an inconspicuous excuse, my eyes flickered to where Lindley Taylor was with her friend…I couldn't put my finger on her friend's name for the time being, but when I saw Lindley's bag split open, I made up my mind. Since she'd waved her friend ahead, I sprung up and grabbed my bag.

"I'll see you guys in a few."

"We're late already though Sirius!" Remus protested.

I gave him a look clearly indicating that I didn't care. He looked at James who shrugged and pulled Remus and Peter away toward the castle. I ran a hand through my hair before heading over to Lindley who was running around trying to gather all of her strewn parchment. One roll in particular made it directly to my path and I put a light foot on it to stop it blowing away. She froze when I reached down to pick it up and dust it off before handing it to her.

"Need some help?" I said, a grin playing at the corners of my mouth.

Her mouth dangled open in slight awe, and I suddenly felt a little uncomfortable as I shoved my hands in my pockets and looked around casually. She came to her senses quickly enough and said,

"Oh Merlin, please. Jess is late already and Flitwick's mad at her for some reason or another, I don't know. Uh, yeah anyway, thanks."

I laughed and squatted to gather her papers in to a neat pile with her textbook when what looked like her charms essay blew out of her grasp and tumbled down the shallow valley straight into the Lake.

"SHIT!" she screamed, throwing the contents of her hands up in the air and racing after it. As I gathered the stuff she dropped, I laughed to myself. If anyone was in a bad mood, I'd have to suggest they chat with Taylor. She was crazy. After repairing her bag with a quick spell I put her stuff in and reclined on my heels slightly watching her teetering over the edge trying to pull her essay closer by paddling at the water. Her short school skirt was riding up a little and I could just about make out the bottom of her underwear. I bit my lip, laughing again, wondering how I got lucky enough to have this elaborate a distraction.

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A/N: ;) Review please


	4. 4 Lindley

A/N: Thanks again! Enjoy this, its one of my favorite chaps. Let me know how it is. Hope you are all well :)

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Chapter 4: Lindley**

I felt like a bloody idiot leaning over the edge so far. I kept trying to pull my skirt down since I was sure I was giving Sirius an eyeful if he was bothered to look. I was so annoyed. Stupid wind, stupid essay. And I couldn't even imagine how bloody late I was at this point.

"You know, Accio might work better. Though I can't say I don't enjoy seeing your Weird Sisters underpants," his deep voice said from behind me. He then muttered the charm and the soggy scroll flew into his open palm.

I flipped my head around, blushing the reddest I'd ever blushed seeing him grin, completely pleased with himself. If he was any more pleased with himself, he would've been whistling. I stood up in annoyance making a big show of pulling my skirt down and marched toward him, grabbing the scroll with a sarcastic "Thanks," before stomping up the hill.

"Forgot your bag," he said, already beside me, holding it out.

Wordlessly, I grabbed it and slung it over my shoulder as I pointlessly waved my essay around, trying to dry it. I then tried to stomp up the hill some more to show my displeasure but lost my footing and fell back in to him. He was in hysterics at this point, barely able to hold me up as I scrambled to stand upright.

"Oh shut up," I said in reference to his barking.

"Oh, charming," he said laughing more and easily walking with me.

"Ohhhh, what am I going to do about this essay and I'm already bloody late," I muttered to myself.

"Are you sure you're a witch? There is a drying spell you know," Sirius said, biting back more laughter.

"Yes, I'm well aware genius. I'm just not very good at them! Which is why I should be in Charms instead of bickering about it with you!" I said in anger.

"I can do it if you want," he said nonchalantly.

I froze and it took him a second to realize. When he did, he turned around, looking at me expectantly.

"Well?" he said, that shit-eating grin still on his ridiculously handsome face.

"Fine! Please dry it for me," I sighed heavily.

He beamed and sent a spell at my scroll that was immediately crisp and dry once again.

"Hold on to that. I doubt the ink could handle another mishap," he said as I scanned it, noticing he'd also made sure the ink hadn't run with his spell.

"Thanks," I said in a small voice as we resumed our brisk walk into the castle.

"S'alright," he replied with a shrug.

"So why are you so late? It can't have been just to help me," I questioned as we walked through the winding corridors.

"I love saving damsels in distress, what are you talking about?" he joked.

"If that's your story," I said with a shrug.

There was silence as we waited politely for a conga-line of ghosts dancing in front of us to pass.

"I just wasn't up for Charms at the moment, honestly," he replied.

I figured it had something to do with his ex-girlfriend, but I didn't say anything about it.

"But you're going now?" I asked.

"Yeah, you cheered me up," he said with a pleasant smile. It was the kind of smile you just can't help but return, so I did as we walked down the Charms corridor.

"Ahem!" a squeaky voice cleared their throat. "Are you two aware that you are twenty minutes late for my lesson?"

We looked down at Flitwick who had his tiny hands on his hips.

"You are quite lucky that Mr Davies had a fainting spell at the beginning of the lesson, so we haven't quite started yet – but in you get!" he said gesturing to the door of the classroom wildly. Sirius and I exchanged sheepish but humorous looks and followed the little Professor into the room where everyone was quietly talking. The room fell silent as we entered however. Perhaps it was because we were an odd twosome entering a room together. Some expressions were incredulous or confused, others (mostly female) looked annoyed. His friends had looks of interest on their faces: James Potter's eyebrows were hidden amongst the mess of his hair as he raised them. Jess looked like she might have a fainting spell like Davies, but the worst face was on Samantha Morgan's. It wasn't jealousy or anger or surprise. It was the most condescending look I'd ever seen. She looked like she felt sorry for one of us. Whether it was for me or Sirius I wasn't sure. But as we made our way to our respective desks, I could see Sirius' balling his fist looking disgruntled. I was quite sure the reason behind his look was not due to James' eyebrows.

"I can't believe it! I just can't!" Jess was still twittering on about our entrance four hours and two lessons later in a corner of the common room.

I rolled my eyes. "Just a coincidence!"

"But that's twice in one week he's hung out with you of his own accord!" she protested.

"Will you shut up!? They're right there. And sometimes I think they have heightened, animal hearing," I shot back in a whisper.

She rolled her eyes. "No, but what do you reckon it means?"

"I think it means it's a coincidence," I said tiredly, leaning back in my armchair.

Jess looked defiant. "Maybe he likes you!" she finally burst out.

"Oh wow Jess, are we really in Second Year again? The object of every girls' affection doesn't suddenly fall in love with a girl he's barely spoken to since they got to school. Life doesn't work that way."

"Its not like he doesn't date though! Come on, he dated that Samantha girl forever."

"Well maybe he realized he was gay and dumped her," I replied jokingly.

"Don'.Joke!" she replied in all seriousness.

"Anyway Jess, we're fighting a lost cause. Not gonna happen. I highly doubt he'll remember my name by next week."

"Oh don't be so melodramatic – he knows our names. We're in his year AND house."

"Can we not discuss this anymore. It's really dumb," I snapped turning my head towards Sirius and his friends. His eyes were on me and his eyebrow was raised. I felt my ears go warm as he gave me a slight hint of the insane grin from the Lake.

"Oh Merlin, I knew he'd hear," I whispered to Jess who looked over at him in shock. He waved his hand at us in acknowledgment and we both looked at the floor.

"I hate you! I really, really hate you," I said to my best friend as we watched him say something to his mates and walk over.

"Alright Bates?" Sirius said throwing himself next to me on the loveseat.

"Oh, hello Sirius" Jess replied giving me a look as she opened a book to read.

"So you reckon I have heightened senses then?" Sirius said, propping his chin up with his arm and looking at me.

"Well clearly you heard something or you wouldn't be over here," I replied in an irritable tone but avoiding his eyes to keep from blushing.

"Well yeah, I did hear one thing I'd like to clarify," he said, his face suddenly closer to me. I turned, despite my red face to look him right in the eyes.

"So you reckon I'm gay?" he said, his face inches away.

"I…um…no…well," I stuttered and stumbled back, trying not to focus on his deep grey eyes and long eyelashes.

"Well, I can assure you I'm not," he whispered, his lips almost grazing my ear. I stared in confusion at an awestruck Jess who was watching intently with her mouth open.

"Just not interested," he said barely audible in my ear before getting up and going back to his friends. He laughed with James as I sat completely still staring at Jess who was begging me to tell her what he said.

"I will murder you one day," I said to her huffily returning to my Witch Weekly but thinking angrily about Sirius and his arrogance.

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Please Review! :)


	5. 5 Sirius

A/N: Yayy! Thank you for your reviews, I'm glad you liked that chapter. Also aren't you happy I'm posting so frequently? Haha, anyway enjoy:

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Chapter 5: Sirius**

"Merlin. I've got to sit with that stalker again," I complained during breakfast.

James and Peter laughed but Remus rolled his eyes.

"Just because you heard her friend gush about you, doesn't mean she was agreeing. You didn't hear the whole conversation Padfoot."

"Heard enough to know she has an unhealthy obsession with me," I replied, leaning on the back legs of my chair as I vanished the last of my breakfast.

James laughed and clapped me on the back. "Well considering I'm finished with Lisa, maybe she'll be next on the list."

"You're finished with her already? I thought that was still in Phase 2."

"Well it escalated to Phase 3 last night in the broom cupboard on the fourth floor after curfew," James replied with a wink.

"You're awful," Remus said as I high fived him.

"Well you're welcome to get Taylor off my back."

"No, I take it back James – you're an idiot, Sirius YOU're an idiot and awful."

"What did I do Moony? I tell people no all the time."

"Well she wasn't exactly asking you out was she?" Peter put in.

"So, what do you expect me to do? Apologize to her for telling her I'm not interested?"

"Well, it would help me if she didn't think my best mate was such a git," James joked.

"Look, I thought she was cool, turns out she's just like everyone else. So yeah, I don't feel bad about it."

"Somehow I feel like you may feel differently after class," Remus said thoughtfully looking down the Gryffindor table.

I glanced in the same direction and saw Lindley glaring. Not at me, but at her plate, mumbling to herself as she got up to leave for class.

"Headcase," I muttered as we got up to go.

I probably should've been more concerned because when we got to the Transfiguration corridor, I got an earful.

"You!" she yelled as we turned the corner.

I looked behind me just in case, but no she was definitely storming towards me.

I raised my eyebrows at the guys who were looking at me in alarm and my eyes strayed to where Lily Evans seemed to be doubled over with laughter.

"Um, me?" I asked when she reached me.

"Just so YOU know," she began prodding me in the chest with a finger. "Despite the fact that you are goodlooking, not every girl in this school is in love with you. Contrary to popular belief – some of us actually look past the pretty face and all I see in you is a miserable, arrogant jerk who's too messed up from breaking up with his perfect girlfriend to remember how to be a real person. SO the next time you decide to assume that I'm interested in you and embarrass me in front of the whole common room, remember that. And guess what?"

I was in slight shock as I wordlessly waved her on. She leaned in real close and whispered in my ear just as I'd done to her the day before.

"I'm not interested either," she said before she pushed me squarely in the chest, stormed away, high fived a waiting Evans and walked in to the classroom.

The whispers and murmurs grew loud as everyone walked in to the classroom leaving me and the boys outside.

"Moony. Switch seats with me," I spat before we walked in to the room after her.

Too bad that plan didn't work out.

"NO, NO absolutely not! I specifically approved Mr Lupin sitting with Potter to prevent him making a fool of himself with you! AND since there are no other suitable seats available Mr Black – you WILL sit with Miss Taylor.

I grunted in response, heaving myself away from a sympathetic James to switch places with Remus. Her table was cluttered as usual and it annoyed me even more.

"Just keep your crap on your side," I said drawing a line with my wand on to the table.

"VANDALISM!" McGonagall screeched. "Is this really necessary Black? Can you and Taylor not get along for the two hours you are in my classroom?"

"I'd say that's about right professor," Lindley spoke up.

"Well! In that case Miss Taylor you can do your detention with Mr Black tomorrow night and Miss Evans can wash the blackboards alone."

"She gets to wash blackboards? What are you having us do?" I asked from my seat in annoyance. I straightened my parchment and quill again.

"Clean and repair the girl's bathroom on the 3rd floor," McGonagall replied darkly.

"Moaning Myrtle's bathroom!? I didn't even deserve the detention that substitute gave me!" the stalker complained.

"It's true Professor," Evans spoke up.

"Quiet Lily," McGonagall said.

"Well Lindley, even if I had cancelled that detention I would STILL make you do this with Black because you will need to learn to get along. We will be starting a three week long project today and your partners will be those sitting beside you."

McGonagall returned to the front and started explaining while Lindley and I sat in stiff silence.

"I don't know where you get off telling me I don't act like a real person," I muttered out of the side of my mouth.

"I don't understand how you can even refute my statement!" she spat back.

"You're the strangest person I've ever met."

"And you're a jerk. Even?"

"Hardly. Shut up, I'm trying to work," I replied in annoyance, waving my wand.

"Hey Sirius," the sweetest, most musical voice you could possibly imagine said, as I sat alone underneath the staircase on the first floor.

"I thought I might find you here," it continued.

"What do you want?" I asked, staring at the wall.

"Just to talk to you. You look so miserable these days, and I've heard things.."

"What things could that possibly be, Samantha?" I asked, snapping my head up angrily.

Her mouth was turned into an expression of worry.

"I've heard things about you and that girl in your House – the one with the odd name?" she said, joining me on the floor. I wish she hadn't. I could feel her bare arm next to mine and the softness of her skin made my chest tighten and collapse.

"Lindley Taylor. She's just convinced she knows everything," I replied reluctantly. I had that stupid detention with her in twenty minutes.

"Right. And are you interested in her?" Sam asked carefully.

"No. I'm not interested in anyone or anything. Not after you."

"Oh Sirius," she said, her voice full of emotion and sympathy. It made me feel two inches tall.

"Why are you doing this? Where's your sad excuse for a boyfriend?"

"Kevin is in his common room. I wanted to find you. See how you're doing."

"Don't bother. I'm fine, I'm fantastic," I replied kicking the wall with the end of my shoe.

"You don't look it," she said.

"Well that's charming. Sorry we don't all look like perfectly put together princesses."

"Well, you're acting different. What happened to that reckless boy I used to know?" she said touching my cheek.

I shut my eyes tightly. Why did she do this to me?

"He's gone. He disappeared right after he stopped having control of his own life."

"You were different, you can't keep blaming me Sirius!" she said softly.

"You cheat on me? And it's my fault?" I asked coolly. "Where's the sense in that Samantha?"

"You changed, you weren't the boy I was in love with."

"What? You expected me to be the same forever? We were together two years! A lot happens."

"I was the same. I never changed."

"But you're perfect," I said, my eyes closed again. I meant it. There was no sarcasm at all in the statement. She was.

"I didn't mean to hurt you. It just happened."

"But with Kevin effing Collins Sam? The least you could do was find someone I couldn't beat to a bloody pulp!"

She smiled her small, wistful smile and kissed my cheek. "You wouldn't beat him up anyway. Like I said, you've changed."

And then she got up and left.

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A/N: Naw :( Ok Review please!


	6. 6 Lindley

A/N: Naw....my review count went down last chap. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this better and the next chapter will be up quicker than this one is! :)

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**Chapter 6: Lindley**

I was annoyed. As usual.

Sirius was also late, as usual.

Therefore, McGonagall was furious (as usual)

"That boy!" she was grumbling as she paced in front of Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. She deftly stepped over the puddle leaking through the door from where Myrtle was clearly flooding the toilets. I was leaning against the wall holding the two mops and staring glumly at the large bucket of soapy water placed beside me. I glanced at my watch for the fiftieth time in the last twenty minutes and sighed deeply. I really wanted this little detention/bonding session to be over so I could go work on my failing Transfiguration grade.

"Nonsense Lindley, you are not earning a T in my class!" McGonagall had said when I brought it up a few minutes ago.

"Perhaps you have handed in a few D homeworks as of late but nothing a little hard work won't change!" she had continued.

"Well wouldn't it be better if I worked on my homework then instead?" I'd asked hopefully.

"You will bond with Mr Black – as much of nuisance that boy is, he could really help you in class!" she practically screeched before beginning to pace and mumble about students and their lack of respect for one another.

"Sorry Miss, am I late?" that husky, delicious voice said from beside me, breaking me from my thoughts. Why was he so damn gorgeous? It would be a lot easier to hate him if he looked like Peter Pettigrew.

"LATE!? You are ABSURDLY late Black!"

"Sorry, lost track of time," he said picking up the heavy bucket and taking the mops from my hands. I looked at him in confusion as he led the way into the bathroom. McGonagall shared my look of surprise but hurried in after him.

"Alright, now I will allow you to keep your wands, simply to fix the broken toilets and sinks – but you MUST clean the Muggle way – I will know if you've cheated," McGonagall announced. Sirius nodded shortly, laid my mop against the wall I was leaning against and dipped his own in to the bucket.

"AND as a punishment for your lateness Black, you will help Miss Taylor with the issues she is having with the Transfiguration homework I assigned, while you clean."

"Sure Miss," Sirius said dully, nodding again.

She looked surprised again, but nodded briskly at us. "I will return in two hours," she said before sweeping out of the bathroom.

"So I guess Myrtle decided to give us a break huh?" I said, feeling awkward as we walked to the sinks spouting water.

"She'll probably pop up and spray us with sewage gunk when we're doing the toilets," he said without humor as he waved his wand at the sinks.

I held back a laugh in response to his stiff expression, but he stopped mid-sentence to call me out.

"So are you any good at the Repair charm or should– why are you grinning like that?"

"I'm not grinning," I said, now finding it incredibly difficult to even attempt to hide my smile.

"You are the strangest bloody girl I've ever met," he said, shaking his head.

"Oh come on, stop being so salty! You said something funny, I laughed. Relax," I replied, feeling a bit irritated now.

He rolled his eyes and waved his wand at each sink. Immediately they stopped gushing water and I knew he'd fixed them. He trudged over to the cubicles to begin fixing the toilets while I started to mop. I furiously began swishing the mop around. Why was he so utterly irritating? He had been perfectly interesting and funny that time at the lake and ever since then his personality seemed to have shifted dramatically.

"So what's your issue with the homework?" he asked rubbing his hands together as he approached. He ran a hand through that luxurious mass of dark hair and I paused observing him for a moment.

"Why do you care?" I said without thinking. Sometimes I just couldn't help being abrasive. I was a defensive person by nature and I always wondered if he was judging me when he spoke to me.

He raised an eyebrow and shrugged. "Honestly? I really don't care. I just don't fancy another detention."

"I thought you and your mates lived for trouble."

"Sure, detention's not so bad if you're with someone you can stand," he said not looking up as he mopped.

I stared at him for a moment and then hung my head a little sadly as I continued to clean. I wished we could just get along, but apparently that was proving to be impossible.

After a few moments, I felt eyes on me but I didn't look up. I heard him sigh and sit down, perched on the end of a sink.

"Lindley."

I looked up slowly and met his cool grey eyes.

"Can we just call a truce or something? We're making this a lot worse than it needs to be."

I stared back…thinking. Why were we trying to force ourselves to be civil? Hadn't we proved in the last week that our personalities did everything but get along?

He smiled at me in this adorable, hopeful kind of way and despite my better judgment I melted. When he saw my expression flicker, he grinned and patted the sink beside him. I sat down beside him and he held out his hand for me to shake. I grasped it and he announced,

"By some kind of twisted fate our two very opposite personalities have been forced together this term, but I promise I'll make the best of it and have a laugh with you," He winked at me, still holding my hand.

"I promise too. Even though you are an annoying git," I said making him chuckle.

With that we carried on cleaning, Sirius answering some of my questions about homework, occasionally joking with one another and definitely not attempting murder on each other.

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A/N: Thanks! Review please :)


	7. 7 Sirius

A/N: Sorry, sorry...I don't know why I didn't update, I have this story written really far in the future... Anyway I hope you enjoy!

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Chapter 7: Sirius**

It was rather nice chatting with Lindley last night. When she wasn't being a stubborn cow, she was quite amusing. I thought I could actually be friends with her now that we'd put the awkward 'stalking' misunderstanding behind us. In fact, the next morning as I sat eating waffles with the lads, I noticed she'd walked in alone. Her friend Jessica was apparently otherwise occupied, so before Evans could raise her arm to invite her over I called,

"Oi Taylor, come eat with us."

She looked surprised but smiled.

She settled down at the table with us not noticing the shocked expression on Evans' face.

"Morning," she said to everyone, helping herself to waffles and fruit.

Remus and Peter mumbled hello but James grinned.

"Alright Lindley?"

Her eyes got kind of wide as she looked at him, but she returned his smile with an effortless one of her own.

"Good thanks James, and you?" she said, with a hint of pink in her cheeks.

"Brilliant," he said smiling wider. "Juice?" he offered before pouring her a glass.

Though I'd seen James work his charm around the girls before, Lindley seemed to be responding completely differently. She didn't seem to realize he was flirting. I watched their awkward exchange with interest before my eyes swept over to Evans. She had a slight frown on her face. I wonder…

"So Linds, did you get that assignment done?" I asked placing my fork and knife carefully on my plate facing downwards, exactly parallel to one another.

She shook her head. "Still stuck on question six. I figured I'd go to the library during lunch."

I looked at her in shock. "Don't be ridiculous! Just copy mine."

"I don't cheat Sirius," she snapped.

"Fine, fine, I'll explain it to you. Just honestly, the library at lunch? That's the saddest thing I've ever heard!"

"Well if its so sad then maybe I ought to just piss off," she said biting her cheek.

I rolled my eyes. "You're being awfully dramatic aren't you?"

"Yes well I can't help it if you're an arrogant tosser can I?" she replied in a similarly casual tone.

I laughed. "You're quite funny when you're angry you know?"

She stiffened. "Well…anyway, I said I'd meet Jess during our free. She's at the Hospital Wing."

"Alright, we'll be in the common room if you decide to get a life and get question six done in five minutes," I said polishing my silverware again and then dropping them again on to my plate directly facing Remus. She stared and rolled her eyes.

"Honestly, I can't believe you think I'm weird," she said gesturing to my plate.

"There's nothing weird about liking to be in control."

"He never used to be like this….It's all because of Sam—" Peter put in, eager to speak to a girl.

"…It's a rather new development," Remus covered, cutting into Pete's revealing statement.

Lindley seemed like she hadn't caught the slip as she tossed her napkin on to her plate and stood with the rest of us. The five of us walked to the Great Hall entrance, preparing to part ways.

"Tell Jessica we hope she feels better," Remus said sincerely.

"Bye Lindley, sit with us again," Peter beamed.

"Yeah see you later nerd," I joked with a wink.

She laughed and waved before suddenly James spoke up.

"Uh…actually Lindley, do you want some company? I've finished all my work and I don't think I can handle another game of Exploding Snap with this lot," James said laughingly.

Lindley flushed but smiled uncharacteristically sweetly. "That would be lovely," she said.

"Alright lads, catch ya later," James said with a knowing wink as he set off with her.

"Looks like he fancies her," Remus said.

"Good for him," I replied with a shrug. Samantha had just walked by with a group of Ravenclaw boys hovering hopefully around her and right now the only thing I could think about was how beautiful she looked.

"Are you ok mate?" Peter asked.

I shook myself from my thoughts and put on a smile. "Course! Couldn't be better. Let's go humiliate ourselves against Remus in a game of Snap, shall we?"

Remus laughed and batted his eyelashes innocently. "I thought you'd never ask!"

Laughing, I pushed my two friends ahead of me in the direction of the common room.

Vaguely I remembered James was off macking on Lindley but my eyes were still fixed on the back of that cornsilk mane of hair in the distance.

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"Oh dear Merlin, Moony I don't think I can take much more of this!" I said rubbing my ashy face. Peter looked much worse. You could hardly decipher him from a burned up log from the fireplace. Leaning back in my chair, patting around to find my wand to clean myself up, I noticed James and Lindley walking in to the room. They were laughing like they'd been mates for years.

"You didn't!" she practically squealed.

"Oh yes we did. Honestly I haven't a clue how McGonagall didn't figure out it was us!" James said quite heartily as they joined us. He glanced at me and burst into renewed bouts of laughter. Lindley started laughing too and soon they were leaning against each other for support on the love seat James usually sprawled his whole body over.

"What's the joke?" I asked slightly crossly.

"You look ridiculous mate!" James choked.

"Honestly, Sirius…how bad at Exploding Snap are you!" Lindley said coughing and covering her mouth slyly.

"Not as bad as Petey," I said defensively. They burst into laughter again at the sight of him and Remus' face got progressively smugger.

"Well I just want to thank James Potter for stepping aside and allowing me to have the Exploding Throne without a fight," he said, bowing.

James and him shook hands theatrically, still laughing.

"I'll give you an Exploding Throne…" I muttered, teasingly raising my wand. Instead, I muttered a spell to clean up my face and then did the same for Peter.

"So Linds, how's your buddy?" I asked kicking my feet up and interrupting the conversation she and James were now having rather intimately.

She turned smiling. "Wow, I can't believe you're pretending to care! She's actually alright though, she was asleep when we went."

"So you guys just sat there while she slept?" I asked raising an eyebrow incredulously.

Lindley laughed. "No, idiot, we just walked around the castle. It's nice to get out of the common room once in a while."

"Yeah, it was nice," James said, smiling at her.

This was sickeningly cute of them.

"Well, we've got about five minutes before class and I'm definitely not going to the Library with you during lunch so do you want to copy my work now, or do you want the abridged explanation?" I asked lazily.

"Oh actually Sirius, James went to the library with me and explained it all. Apparently he's quite good at Transfiguration too!"

James winked at me discreetly and I smiled slightly in return. Though…for some bizarre reason I was a little bit irked.

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A/N: Please reviewww!


	8. 8 Lindley

_**A/N: Thanks for the reviews! Especially you loyal guys and the ones who appreciate the story is a work in progress. I got quite a few reviews from an anonymous reviewer who said my marauders were out of character, to which I was slightly shocked. Obviously everyone has their own version of the marauders in their head, but I think mine are pretty good...lol, if anything i think my mcgonagall is great - shes my fave teacher to write and I was quite sad when someone said they hated my version of her! Thanks anyway guys, I don't know why I keep pausing from updating, honestly, I'm on chapter 26 in the writing process so I think I might be lazy! If you read this author note, please, remind me when you review - say "you are an idiot, you are almost 20 chaps in the future and you wont review - dont be mean" and I'll hopefully stop being a jerk! Ok much love! Enjoy -**_

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Chapter 8: Lindley

How had I never noticed how soft his hair was? How much his eyes twinkled when he laughed. I had completely bypassed this gorgeous male specimen for the majority of my years at Hogwarts. But now…he was all I could think about.

"Linds, you've got that dazy look on your face again," Jess said waving her hand in front of my face.

I blushed. "Oh shut up."

"This doesn't have anything to do with Him does it?" she teased.

"Seriously, stop. It's a lost cause. Another out of reach fantasy for Lindley Taylor."

"What's an out of reach fantasy?"

I turned and saw Lily Evans and Marlene McKinnon standing beside our booth, their necks wrapped in thick woolen scarves and their cheeks pink from the cold.

I shook my head and laughed nervously. "Oh nothing…"

"Mind if we join you? Everywhere else is full." Lily asked gesturing to the crowded Three Broomsticks. Dorcas Meadowes had joined us now too, arms laden with Butterbeer bottles.

"We come with offerings," she said with a hopeful smile as she put down five bottles on the table.

"Of course, you're welcome," Jess said moving over to make room. Marlene and Dorcas sat beside her while Lily joined me.

"So what are we talking about?" Marlene said taking a deep sip.

"Nothing," I said just as Jess blurted out "Boys."

"Oooh, our favourite!" Dorcas said clapping. "Who d'you fancy then?" she asked Jess.

This was strange. The girls were nice, sure, but as a general rule we didn't all hang out together and we definitely didn't talk about our love lives.

Jess smiled shyly. "Derrick Peters," she whispered.

Marlene and Dorcas squealed. "Do you really? He has gotten much better good looking lately," Marlene said.

"Didn't he ask you out?" Jess said quietly. I wanted to tell her to stop talking. While I trusted Lily… Marlene and Dorcas were kind of gossipy.

Marlene laughed and flipped her hair over her shoulder. "Oh right! I'd forgotten, it was so long ago. I can introduce you if you'd like."

Jess shook her head furiously. "Oh no…I'm more of an admire-from-afar kind of girl."

"And anyway, you're his Charms partner. You already know him!" I put in, trying to defend her self esteem.

Dorcas nodded. "But what about you Lindley? You seem like more of a go-getter!"

"Dorcas!" Lily snapped, warningly.

"What? I'm just calling it like I see it!"

"What's that supposed to mean, anyway?" I asked a little defensively.

"Oh Lindley, I didn't mean to offend you. I just noticed you've been spending a lot of time with James and Sirius lately," she replied in her soft, dreamy tone.

"Well I sit with Sirius in Transfiguration and we had a detention together…" I said a little uncomfortably.

"You see! She's not actually friends with them! She can see through all their immaturity just as well as I can," Lily put in.

"Well…not all the time!" Jess said. I glared at her. I knew she'd always been a little interested in getting closer to the popular girls, but I was getting worried.

"Oh really…" Marlene said. "Why's that?"

"Shut up Jess!" I said in annoyance before my friend could speak. I then politely maneuvered past Lily to get my coat and leave. I was not about to let anyone else know about my new crush. Just as I was at the door, I felt a hand on my elbow. It was Lily.

"Look, I'm sorry. They can be a bit gossipy sometimes and its just…well they thought you might be dating James Potter," she said looking at the floor.

I reddened. "Dating him! No…no, he just helped me out with some homework the other day. It's nothing."

"I thought so," she replied, finally looking back at me. "But, look he's bad news. He just flits from girl to girl trying to make everyone a conquest and…it's just, you're decent and I wouldn't want to see you get hurt."

"Are you sure this doesn't have anything to do with your infamous love hate relationship with him?" I asked a little coldly.

She looked hurt but shrugged. "I just thought you had more sense than to fall for one of those irresponsible idiots."

"Look I know you and your friends get a lot of attention because you're beautiful, but it doesn't mean the rest of us can't be friends with the popular lads too," I replied in annoyance.

She looked shocked before her eyes narrowed slightly. "Well that's bloody nice. Go on, date him then and you'll see. You might last a week tops."

It was strange arguing with her like this. Lily and I had always gotten along very well.

"Do you like him now then? Is that it? Missing the attention?" I said curtly.

Her eyes flashed and looked shiny for a moment. I felt immediately bad about it, but still annoyed. I didn't like being treated like a child. While we continued our staring match, Jess had joined us. I glanced at her apologetic face and sighed.

"Well see you at school then," I said to Lily, stiffly.

"Yeah…see you at school," she muttered.

"Bye Lily," Jess said in a concerned way.

In response Lily put on a bright smile. "Bye Jess. And look, don't worry. I wont let them say a word about you and Derrick."

Jess grinned. "Thanks Lily, that means a lot."

She smiled and shrugged. "Nah, it's nothing. I'll see you both later." And with that she went back to the booth where her gaggling friends waited.

Jess and I left the bar in silence, walking through the village slowly.

"I'm sorry Lindley…I didn't mean to let anything slip," Jess said tentatively.

"Do you really want to be friends with them that badly? You know they'll only spread it around," I replied, still fuming.

"No, honestly Linds…I know they're a bit gossipy, but they aren't mean. Lily especially," Jess protested earnestly.

"She's not the perfect angel everyone thinks she is, you know," I said in annoyance. Mainly because I knew Jess was right. As a general rule Lily kept her friends in check and she definitely didn't start rumours.

"You know I think they just wanted to find out because Marlene fancies Sirius and Lily fancies James."

"Lily hates James!" I argued.

"Well that's what she thinks, but everyone knows she just doesn't trust him."

"Well I think it's awful that she strings him along like that. He deserves someone who will actually like him back!" I said sadly. "Too bad I'll never be as pretty as she is…"

"Not as pretty as who?" a deep voice came from behind us.

Sirius was leaning on a wall outside Zonko's Joke Shop as we passed.

"No one," I replied while Jess blurted out, "Celestina Warbeck."

I looked at her in confusion.

"Yeah well, she's downright gorgeous isn't she? I wouldn't worry about competing with a celebrity Taylor," Sirius said with a half grin.

"Um…well yes. Ok, see you at school then." I said trying to get Jess to leave with me.

"Hey Jessica…you don't know that Hufflepuff, Derrick Peters do you?" Sirius asked.

Jess went a shade paler. Had her secret already gotten out?

"He's her partner in Charms," I supplied since she seemed rather tongue-tied.

"Right. Well he was here a while ago asking if we'd seen you. Were you supposed to meet up or something?" Sirius asked in his usual disinterested tone.

Jess' face lit up. Wonderful, now even my shy best friend might get a boyfriend before I did. I didn't mean to feel jealous, but I couldn't help but wish I liked someone that wasn't in love with someone else.

"No, we weren't. I wonder what he wanted," she said quietly.

Sirius shrugged. "Maybe he fancies you."

"Oh shut up Sirius," I snapped.

He raised his eyebrows in slight surprise. "Um…ok?"

"You're only saying that 'cos you're bored! What, have your friends gone and ditched you?"

"You know Taylor, you can be downright malicious sometimes. Sure we aren't related?" he asked in his lazy, annoying voice.

"Anyway," he continued, looking back at Jess. "I think he went in to Honeydukes. He seemed really nervous, so unless you have some large assignment due, I reckon he's sweet on you."

Jess blushed vibrantly. "Really? Do you think so?"

Sirius rolled his eyes. "I don't know, do I? Go into Honeydukes and find out!"

Jess looked at me. "You don't mind do you? Only for a minute.."

"Yeah, go on, I'll wait here," I said with a sigh.

"You're the best!" she said hugging me and then smiling gratefully at Sirius before she took off.

We were silent for a while before he spoke.

"Brilliant, I was just thinking about how I was in the mood for a little chat."

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_**A/N: Thanks for reading friends! Please review, remind me to update, I swear I can, I have so many chapters written! :)**_


	9. 9 Sirius

_**A/N: Ok only 2 reviews last chap, but I didn't want to disappoint you guys, so here is the next chap :) Thanks ladylily101 and siriusfanno1 - you two are the best :)**_

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Chapter 9 : Sirius

She really makes me laugh that Lindley. Right now we were both leaning against the wall outside Zonko's waiting for our friends to return. I didn't tell her that the lads had ditched me because I was being a moody tool. They'd gone off to get a drink at the Three Broomsticks to which I'd refused to go along because Sam was there. Now, I realize at this point I sounded like a whiny little girl but I found one of her stupid scarves today in my trunk and I felt like I was practically back to square one. It didn't help that Prongs was sounding like he may have a new obsession. Sure he wasn't over Evans or anything but ever since he and Lindley had that library rendezvous last week he's been taking every opportunity to chat to her. I understood the interest because when she wasn't being a cow, she was really very fun. In fact, I sometimes enjoyed ticking her off just to get a reaction out of her, because it was sort of cute. Her moodiness was more comical than depressing and it made me forget about Samantha for a while. So I suppose I was happy to run into her and have a chat before she just became another one of James' random conquests.

She was sighing heavily now, rubbing her hands together to warm them up.

"So where've you been?" I asked her, stretching.

"Around? I see you everyday," she said shrugging.

"Yeah but we haven't had one of our great rough and tumbles in a while."

Her eyebrows shot up past her fringe. "Our…what?"

"You know our back and forths. The sexually charged, quick quip, arguments?" I explained, biting back a smile. It was too easy.

She practically spluttered her reply. "We do NOT have sexually charged arguments, we have mean, hurtful…but given, sometimes amusing conversations."

"As long as you enjoy them as much as I do love," I said with a wink, looking over to the slowly emptying Honeydukes.

"Why do feel the need to be so infuriating?" Lindley said huffily.

"I like to get a rise out of you," I replied stretching again and yawning. I wanted to go back to the castle but I had to wait for my stupid mates.

She didn't reply to that but instead looked at her watch and sighed. "It's too bloody cold to be out here. So where are the rest of the lads?"

I rolled my eyes. "James and the lads you mean?" I teased.

She went slightly pink but rolled her eyes. "I meant all of them you doof."

"Three Broomsticks."

"But we were just there!"

"Well they only left a few minutes before you walked by, so I reckon you probably just missed them. But don't worry, with any luck you and Jamesie will be holding hands and walking back to the castle together in the moonlight soon."

"Oh shut up."

"Why? It's obvious you fancy him," I said curtly.

"Is it? Because I'm pretty sure I haven't done anything to give off that impression," she said shivering a little. It was probably the coldest night since we'd been back to school.

"Look do you need my coat or something, your teeth are chattering like mad!"

"Save your chivalry for someone who's impressed."

"Come on Linds, relax will you? I'm just havin' a laugh, 'cos I thought you could take it, but I can stop if you want," I said in annoyance.

She thought about it for a moment but sighed and shook her head. "Nah, I suppose it's not too bad. It makes our friendship a bit more sincere."

"Aha! So we ARE friends," I said grinning, making her smile too.

"Barely," she said rolling her eyes.

"The lads ditched me for being a moody cow. I didn't want to run into Samantha," I blurted out. She looked surprised at my confession but let it roll.

"Broomstick's was well crowded, I doubt you would've run into her anyway."

"Yeah well," I said kicking a little stone down the street to detract from my embarrassment.

"I had a row with Lily," she whispered.

"What!" I asked in disbelief. "I thought you and Evans were mates."

"Well we are, but she kept warning me about you and James and how irresponsible you were and saying I shouldn't be friends with you."

I laughed. "That one just doesn't realize how much she likes James."

When I didn't hear a reply, I turned to see Lindley biting her lip looking a bit upset. Oh no, she had it bad for Prongs.

"But it's alright you know? She'll never admit it and she's bad for him anyway," I lied to make her feel better.

She smiled and pushed her hair back a bit. When her hair wasn't all over her eyes, she looked kind of pretty.

"Hey! It's snowing!" she said looking up at the flakes falling. She laughed and stuck her tongue out catching them happily. I grinned and looked at the sky, which was now filled with flurries of white. I loved the snow too. Hearing her laugh happily, made me join in, as the snow got heavy and fast. It was accumulating on the ground quite rapidly as she twirled, her arms out while I watched. For the first time in a really long time I thought I could be happy around a girl other than Sam. I felt like I was seeing Lindley for the first time. I looked at her, snowflakes in her hair and on her long eyelashes. Her cheeks were pink from the cold and the expression of delight on her face made her look fresh and beautiful, so unlike the times where she grimaced at me. Suddenly all I wanted was to make her laugh all the time.

Racing forward, I picked her up and slung her over on shoulder spinning her around. She squealed but laughed some more and playfully hit my back. I put her down with a grin and her eyes narrowed teasingly.

"I am so going to get you!" she said running over to where the snow had started to build up a bit more. She grabbed a handful of snow and flung it at me, but soon snowballs were flying from all directions. It wasn't just me and Lindley anymore, everyone on that street in Hogsmeade had joined in. I saw Jessica with that Hufflepuff outside of Honeydukes laughing. Evans was nearby horsing around with McKinnon and Meadowes and then three snowballs hit me straight on the back of my head. I saw Prongs, Moony and Wormtail standing there armed with snowballs and huge grins. Me and my mates started tossing them as quickly as it came down, laughing hysterically. I dodged behind a large barrel on the street avoiding Remus and Peter's wrath when my eyes landed on Lindley again. Although this time James had picked her up and was spinning her around, just as I had a few moments before. She seemed like she was laughing harder and fighting less convincingly. When he let her down, they grinned at each other and James pulled her into a hug.

The only person on the street with the same expression as me at that moment, was Lily Evans.

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_**A/N; Dum, dum, Dummmmmmmm... review pleeeease? **_


	10. 10 Lindley

_**A/N: Thanks for your wonderful reviews, i forgot how addictive they are and how nice and encouraging you can all be! Thanks and enjoy! **_

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Chapter 10: Lindley

You know, I've read about the word elation in novels but I'd never felt that feeling of joy so intensely as I did on Monday morning when Jess and I came down the stairs to go to breakfast. James Potter was sitting alone in an armchair doodling in a notebook. His friends weren't in sight but he seemed to be waiting for someone. He glanced up and smiled brightly as Jess and I walked down to the common room.

"Morning girls," he said happily, standing up to greet us.

"Hello James," Jessica said, glancing at me excitedly.

"Hi," I said shyly with a little wave. What was it about him that made me so immensely nervous?

"Mind if I join you for breakfast?" he asked casually, his eyes on my face.

I felt myself blush as I nodded. And there was that feeling of elation. He waited…to have breakfast with me. Me.

"Well…that works out then, doesn't it Linds?" Jess said with a smile as the three of us headed to the portrait hole.

"Why's that?" James asked curiously.

"Oh, I was going to sit with Derrick Peters this morning and Lindley doesn't much like his mates," she explained.

"Yeah well they are Hufflepuffs," he joked with a smile. "No offense. Bad history with some of those lot."

"Derrick is really nice though, Jess," I assured her, knowing he'd meant Samantha Morgan.

James nodded. "Oh sure, he's great," he agreed eagerly making us all laugh. "Well, we can just sit with my friends then. I think they're already in the Great Hall."

"Brilliant," Jess said nudging me with her elbow. "Well I'll see you lot in Potions…and I hope I'll be seeing more of you James," she said winking at me discreetly.

He smiled. "I'm sure you will Jessica."

She stopped at the Hufflepuff table to sit with Derrick who greeted me cheerily and nodded at James. James and I then walked in comfortable silence to the Gryffindor table where Sirius, Remus and Peter were seated.

"Alright Lindley?" Remus said, sliding down the bench a little to make room for James and I.

"Morning," I said cheerfully, picking up some toast.

"You two look cosy," Peter teased making me blush.

"Shut up Petey," James said with an easy laugh as he poured us both some pumpkin juice. "What's up with you mate?" he then said to Sirius who was looking gloomily at his carefully arranged silverware.

"Have you accidentally put a spoon down at the wrong angle?" I joked laughing with his friends.

Sirius laughed halfheartedly but grinned.

"Good one Taylor. Nah Prongs, I just didn't get much sleep last night."

"Yeah I noticed you were up astonishingly early this morning," James said, his elbow touching mine as he cut up an omelet.

Sirius shrugged. "Where's Jessica?" he asked me.

"Sitting with Derrick. It's a good job you told her that he was looking for her. I reckon she's happier than she's been in quite a while!"

"Good for her," he said flatly as he vanished the plate in front of him. A smaller one appeared and he asked politely, "Could you please pass the bacon?"

Everyone looked generally astonished.

"What have you done with the real Sirius Black?" Remus asked.

"What? I'm just being polite," he shot back.

"Since when are you polite?" Peter said in awe.

"Look Lindley has the bacon next to her, so I just wanted it. But if you all would prefer I was rude about it…" with his face quite red, he got up, reached over the table and grabbed the plate roughly from next to me.

Everyone was silent for a moment.

"Aww, did Siwius get up on the wong side of the bedd?" I said, laughing.

James coughed into his plate, turning red as he chuckled while Sirius just rolled his eyes.

"Oh piss off Taylor," he said in annoyance, finishing the last of his bacon. "I'll see you later," he muttered to us before exiting the hall.

"What's up his?" Remus asked curiously.

James shrugged. "Dunno, but I'm sure it'll blow over, whatever it is."

We nodded and continued to eat and talk but I was a little distracted. I really hoped it had nothing to do with the little moment we'd shared in Hogsmeade. But then again, he probably hadn't even noticed it.

I've realized that the relationship Sirius and I share is just a petty, comical nonsense one. But any girl who has looked at him would feel little butterflies if he picked her up and twirled her around in the snow with him. Getting to know him had helped me get over the meaningless crush I'd had on him for years, but it had also opened up a whole new obsession in the form of James Potter. Although, it didn't seem much like an out of reach obsession anymore, especially when he leaned over to brush the hair off my eyes.

"Your hair looks really pretty today," he said with a smile. His glasses were a little crooked so I tentatively moved them straight. We both smiled at the touch.

"Ok, you guys are sort of making us sick now. Aren't they Pete?" Remus said with a smirk.

I blushed but James laughed and shoved his friend.

"Walk with me to class?" he asked.

"I'd love that," I said with a grin.

We walked to Potions together while Remus and Peter went off to find Sirius. We took the long way, talking comfortably and laughing often. He really made me feel like less of a miserable prat, it was refreshing. When we walked in to the room, Jess was sitting waiting for me at the desk behind Lily Evans. Lily and Dorcas were talking animatedly to Jess (no doubt about Derrick) but stopped as soon as they saw us. Obviously, Dorcas was trying to make up for she and Marlene's pushiness in Hogsmeade. James nodded at them and waved at Jess before heading to his seat near the back. I could feel the tension between Lily and I and it was anything but casual when she turned around.

"Look, I feel really awful about the row we had in Hogsmeade. You're entitled to make your own opinions about Potter and I'm sorry," she said formally.

"Thanks, I know you don't get along with him though, so I suppose I understand your concern."

Lily smiled. "Yeah well, its not that we don't get along. He's just insufferably annoying."

Jess and I laughed as I began to pull things out of my bag to get ready for the lesson. Just as a bunch of papers fell off my desk, I saw someone had caught them from falling. Sirius was clutching my tattered notebook with a lazy smile on his face. He dropped it playfully in my lap and vanished the rubbish I'd managed to dig up on to my desk.

"Clean up your act, Taylor. Honestly, I don't know how you function."

His previous gloomy mood seemed to have disappeared as he grinned at me cockily.

"Shove off Black," I said rolling my eyes. He and Remus laughed together and went to join James at the back of the room.

"I think I know what you mean when you say insufferably annoying," I said to Lily.

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_**A/N: sorry really short chap but will update really soon, review please!**_


	11. 11 Sirius

**A/N: I'm back! Since I'm on a roll with updating some new stories and after catching some deserved grief from the394thdauntlesscake (thanks by the way!) - I figured it was time to revisit this story. **

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**Chapter 11: Sirius**

She'd broken up with him! That dimwit Kevin Collins was out on the streets and Samantha Morgan was once again a free agent. The strange passing gloom I'd felt as I saw the budding romance between James and Lindley was immediately gone when I saw Sam and Kevin arguing outside the Great Hall on Monday morning. It's not as if I felt like I could instantly forgive Sam for cheating on me. But I still loved her didn't I? Maybe we could work it out. I felt more like myself than I had in months and months. Maybe I could have her back and then I'd forget all about my brief interest in Lindley. We could just be mates, even after she and James got together and split up.

"Wake up James!" I said later that week, throwing my pillow at his head.

"Go away," he mumbled.

"If you don't get up now, how are you going to eat breakfast with Taylor?" I teased.

He groaned and sat up. "I don't even understand how you're awake right now."

I looked away pretending to be interested in Remus walking to the bathroom and Peter studying his face closely in the mirror.

James' pillow hit my head with a thwack.

"Jeez! What are you playin' at Prongs?" I exclaimed looking at the curious expression on face.

He got out of bed, stared me dead in the eyes, and dropped his quilt on the floor with an expectant look.

I raised my eyebrow. "If you think I'm picking that up for you, you've got another thing coming, mate."

"A-HA!" He yelled loudly, pointing at me.

As I looked back in shock, at his wild eyes and lopsided glasses, Peter tore his eyes from his reflection and Remus warily emerged from the bathroom.

"What's going on?" Remus said tiredly.

James pointed at his quilt like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Funnily enough, the other two seemed to agree with him as they glanced back at me with open mouths.

Peter cleared his throat. "Are you telling me…that after months of biting our heads off for not making our beds…." He trailed off looking confused.

"…You've decided to go back to your old ways and not give a shit?" Remus finished for him.

"Uh…well, it just didn't seem like a big deal?" I said hopefully.

"A-HA!" James repeated, still looking insane.

Remus sat down on the edge of the table with Peter. He looked thoughtful.

"Now…there must be a reason for this drastic change back to the old Sirius."

"Something must have happened…" Peter added.

"Oh, caught on have you?" James said in disbelief.

"Lads…I'm not sure why all of you are acting this insane…but I'm not really that crazy, really…hang on, Prongs, wait, NO!"

While I'd been talking, James had rushed over to the drawn curtains of my four-poster and yanked open the drapes. It's not that I had anything to hide, but it would only give them more reason to freak out if they saw my own unmade bed.

"A-HA!" My three friends said together.

"What the hell happened?" Remus asked.

"Nothing shut the hell up, all of you."

"Mate, does this mean you'll be up for messy pranks again?" Peter said in delight.

James now looked smug and annoying. "This wouldn't have anything at all to do with a recently single Samantha Morgan would it?"

"Oh shut up," I said sitting down on my bed with a thump.

"This is so, so, so bad," Remus was saying.

"What, does he want her back?" Peter asked.

"Of course he does, Wormtail! What do you think this mess means? He has _control _again, so he can stop micro-managing his life!" James explained.

"And of course he thinks that if he acts like a reckless slob Samantha will want to be with him again," Remus added.

"AHEM! If you're all finished psychoanalyzing me, I'm going to piss off to breakfast. Oh and LOOK, one of the strands of my hair is out of place – it MUST be a sign. You bloody idiots."

And with that, I left them whispering to one another worriedly and stomped out of the dormitory downstairs to the common room – only to run headfirst, of course, into Lindley Taylor.

"Oh hello Sirius, all right?" she greeted me.

"Yeah fine," I mumbled. Merlin why did she have to dowse herself in that sweet, sweet smell of vanilla?

"You look kind of red mate," she said looking up at me. I coughed to shake myself from staring back into her eyes. Someone please explain to me how I became a sap?

"I just had a coughing fit," I replied shortly.

She raised an eyebrow. "I heard yelling."

"It's none of your beeswax, all right? My best mate – a.k.a your lover boy – a.k.a. The Git –= is on his way down, so don't worry. He won't keep you waiting." I started to walk toward the portrait hole when I heard her voice.

"You know Sirius, I don't sit with you lot just because of him. For one, I enjoy hanging out with _all _of you. And another, my best mate sits elsewhere nowadays."

I turned and sighed. "Lindley, are you being nice to me? Has he really got you smiling?" I asked, leaning against the wall.

She smiled, but looked down to hide it for a moment. "I just feel less of a miserable prat these days."

I looked at her for a moment but spoke when I heard the door to the dormitory open, Remus' low chuckle and James voice.

"Too bad. I preferred you before," I said grumpily.

And then I left.

I know, uncalled for. But I couldn't help it.

When the four of them joined me for breakfast, I was staring intently at Samantha. She looked sad, but she was also looking right back at me.

"Alright grumpy?" Remus said sitting down.

"Have you stopped PMS-ing then?" James joked with a smile. Code for "Sorry".

"Yeah, I was thinking…." I began, trailing off.

"What?" Peter asked bluntly.

"Despite what you lot are going to say…I think I'm going to go talk to Sam." I watched their reactions very carefully. James was determinedly looking casual as he looked at the front page of The Prophet he was sharing with Lindley. Peter looked incredulous but Remus looked surprisingly disinterested.

"What's up Professor Lupin?" I asked, using the nickname for his unimpressed expression.

He smiled but shrugged. "Look mate," he said in a low tone. "We don't care what you do as long as you're happy doing it. And if being back with Sam stops you being moody and crazy, then that sounds good to me."

"Besides Sam was always so fun. I kind of miss her hanging 'round with us," Peter put in.

James finally looked up at this. I could tell he did not agree. It was true, although Sam had been great for the majority of the two years we were together, before we broke up, her presence consisted of more moodiness and more fighting than fun.

Oh right, and she'd cheated on me.

"James?" I prompted.

He shrugged. "I don't think it's a good idea mate, but I know you'll do whatever you please, so why should I bother?"

I shrugged. "Give me one good reason not to try and make things work with her."

"Um…should— I, uh…leave?" Lindley was whispering to Remus.

"You've heard enough by now Linds, don't be a git," I said dismissively. She fell silent and looked expectantly at James, just as I was.

"Well…there's the obvious reason…Pride," he replied.

"Oh, like that's a huge issue for you!" I said, clearly referring to his past encounters with Evans.

James glanced quickly at Lindley who seemed to have missed the reference and rolled his eyes at me. "Well… also, she bloody cheated on you!"

I sighed and shrugged despite the fact that James was voicing my own inward concerns. "Things happen."

"You see – _this_ is why I didn't want to bother! Go then mate, I hope I won't have to say I told you so."

I grinned as I stood up and ruffled his hair.

"You ought to care less about me, like Remus does," I joked.

"It's true. It saves you a lot of frustration," Remus joked back.

James rolled his eyes. "Honestly, this is a heavy breakfast and I've barely eaten a thing. Piss off now will you?"

"Wait, you're not eating with us?" Lindley spoke up, looking up at me with her large dark blue eyes. I felt a twinge of annoyance that her hand lay touching James' on the bench between them. Shaking it off, I put on a bright smile and joked,

"Well I better go get a girlfriend now that James has one!"

Then, dodging James' swipe at me, I sauntered over to where Samantha was sitting, waiting for me expectantly. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, forcing the image of disheveled chestnut hair from my head and replacing it with cornsilk.

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_**A/N: Thanks for reading, I hope that you'll bear with me despite the wait!**_


	12. 12 Lindley

_**A/N: Thanks for reading!**_

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**Chapter 12: Lindley**

He asked me to Hogsmeade. Three weeks in advance!

James Potter and the girl with the weird name were going to Hogsmeade together! Although a bunch of girls I didn't know fake congratulated me this week, I could also see a lot of pitying looks in my direction, which sort of confused me. As I was walking to class after lunch by myself, I tried to avoid the group of the gossipiest Ravenclaws standing by the girl's loo near the Charms corridor.

"Oh hi Lindsey!" Emmeline Vance said, stepping in front of me as I walked by.

I sighed. "It's Lindley."

"Oh right…sorry! What're you up to?"

I shrugged. "Um, walking to class?"

"Cool! That's really great," she said in a pitying voice.

"What's up?" I asked bluntly. She and her friends pretended to look confused but my face remained expectant.

"You're going to Hogsmeade with James Potter, aren't you?" Kelly McNamee said.

I sighed again, rolling my eyes. "Not that it's anyone's business, but yes."

Kelly and Emmeline exchanged a knowing look.

"That's uh, really great…" Emmeline said unconvincingly.

"Yeah, you sound really sincere," I said, pushing past them trying to go to class, but Emmeline grabbed my elbow.

"Do you want to rethink that?" I said menacingly.

She smiled sweetly. "Oh sorry. We're only a little concerned for you."

I frowned. "Ok, I'll bite. Why are you concerned?"

Kelly smiled sympathetically. "You know he's just using you to make Lily Evans jealous…don't you?"

They'd struck with precision and despite trying to put up a wall, I faltered.

"Um…"

"Hey girls!" a familiar voice said, sidling up next to me and throwing an arm around my shoulders in a friendly gesture.

The girls all primped for a second before chorusing, "Hi Sirius!" enthusiastically.

"Did I hear you talking about James and Lindley here, going to Hogsmeade together?" he said.

Emmeline took charge. "Oh yeah…we were just telling her to be careful. You know James has a bit of a reputation. He's great and all, but he's in love with Lily Evans," she said airily with a giggle.

Sirius nodded. "I see. Well not that my opinion matters much, but…"

"OH SIRIUS, of course your opinion matters! He is your best mate after all," Kelly interrupted.

He smiled winningly at her. "Well then, I reckon James used to be infatuated with Lily. But when he started talking to Lindley and that was all history."

My mouth dropped open in shock. The girls looked at Sirius similarly.

"Oh…really?" Emmeline said slowly, glancing at her friends.

"Yeah, but who wouldn't adore her? She's a peach!" Sirius said hugging me with one arm. My face was still frozen in shock.

"Anyway, maybe we'll see you all in Hogsmeade. If you get dates, maybe you can double with them!" Sirius said in a dramatic voice.

"Ready to go to class? James is waiting for you," he said, turning to me.

I nodded wordlessly.

"Bye girls!" Sirius said cheerily, towing me away.

When we turned the corner, he let his arm drop back to his side.

"Sorry, I know you didn't need any help. I just couldn't resist bugging Emmeline."

"Thanks Sirius, that was really nice of you," I admitted.

He shrugged. "Anything for James' girl," he said with a grin as we approached the classroom. I smiled, that sounded really nice. But as we walked in, I felt his eyes still on the back of my head and couldn't help but feel my ears turn warm and red.

I sat down with Jess who looked like she was dying to say something but waited until Sirius breezed by to go sit at the back.

"He really looks like he fancies you," she whispered to me seriously.

I brushed it off. "Don't be ridiculous. I'm going to Hogsmeade with James and Sirius is trying to get back with his ex-girlfriend."

She glanced back casually. "He's still looking at you."

"So what? It's nothing, we're friends," I said to her. Even so, I glanced back to see he was indeed still looking. When he saw me turn, he snapped his head to the front and let out a yell.

"Tossers! What took you so long? I can't believe I was actually here first!"

I turned and saw that Remus and James had just entered the room. Remus rolled his eyes but James grinned. "Have you turned over a new leaf mate? Becoming teacher's pet?"

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Yeah right, everyone knows that's Evans' job!"

I looked down, feeling a little worried. What if the girls were right? James did seem to still enjoy teasing Lily. Things didn't go as they usually did though. Lily was looking at James expecting a comment but he just shrugged.

"Nah, that's Remus' job!" he said, laughing as Remus shoved past him, purposely hard.

He then simply nodded at Lily and Marlene who both looked a bit shocked. He then stopped by me and dropped a note on my table.

"Alright Linds? He said softly to me and then smiled at Jess who was grinning madly at us. I turned red as he smiled and headed to the back where Remus and Sirius were now cat calling and teasing him.

"How does it feel?" Jess whispered.  
"What?" I said, still in a bit of a daze.

"Having those two lads wrapped 'round your little finger?" she said with a laugh.

I rolled my eyes at her but couldn't stop smiling. I opened the note to read it.

"Remember First Year?" It read..

"Will you be my girlfriend?

Yes _

No _

Maybe _"

My mouth dropped open again as my head swung back to look at him. He was looking at me as Remus and Sirius talked about something else and he had a sweet hopeful smile on his lips. Be still, my beating heart.


End file.
